As Jessica Ennis came down the home straight in the 800 metres Tatyana Chernova trailed her every step of the way. Chernova made a point of sprinting hard to overtake Ennis in the final few metres. Then she stood by the finish line, glowering while the Briton celebrated her victory and new national heptathlon record.

Chernova's message was obvious but she spelt it out afterwards for emphasis. "I'm happy," Chernova said. "I beat Jess in the 800 metres, so I feel good and I know what to do in the next two months before the Olympic Games."

Chernova is hoping that Ennis's emphatic victory in Götzis could be something of a mixed blessing. Since Chernova beat her in the World Championships in Daegu last year, Ennis has enjoyed being the underdog. She used the pain of the defeat as fuel to push herself on. Now she will start the summer as favourite to win the Olympic title. Chernova expects the pressure of public expectation will weigh heavily on Ennis. "It was a great personal best," Chernova said. "But in the next competition it will be 'Can she beat that record? Can she get the same points or not?' But I know what I can do and I will work towards that."

"It will help me because I'm not afraid of anything," Chernova said when asked how she would feel about competing in front of a British crowd. "If people just look at one girl, it will be very hard for her to compete." Besides, she added mischievously: "I'm very popular in my country and my country is bigger than Great Britain so I hope that my family, my friends and all my fans will be there to help me."

Denise Lewis' old British record, which Ennis broke by 75 points, was set in 2000, weeks before she won the Olympic title in Sydney. So far as omens go, though, Chernova could equally well point out that she lost to Ennis in Götzis last year, too, before beating her at the World Championships. "I don't worry," she said. "Because I didn't beat any of my personal bests here. So if I do in London, I'll have better points than I showed here." Ennis' total of 6,906 was 26 points beyond Chernova's own best. Both will be pushing themselves harder than ever in London.

Ennis's coach, Toni Minichiello, is sure there is still more to come from his athlete. "It was an excellent two days," Minichiello said. "There's a bit of slack in there as well. I think we can be a little better in the high jump, and the javelin is still a work in progress." He also picked out the shot put, long jump and 800m as areas where Ennis could pick up more points. Ennis's high jump was the weak link in Götzis, her height of 1.85m being 10cm below her best. If she had cleared 1.93m, Ennis would have broken the 7,000-point barrier, something only three women in history have ever done.

Minichiello's mind was already racing ahead to what he and Ennis were going to do next. He would give her a week off, he reckoned, before "it's back to have a look through the film and debrief and see where we go from there". The expectation is that Ennis will compete three or four more times in individual events before heading off to pre-Olympic training camp.

Chernova was quietly confident about her own plans. "I don't think I need to change anything. Everything is going well. I just need to wait a few months and train hard.

"Every competition is different," Chernova said, reminding the excited British press and public that in two month's time both women will be starting on zero points all over again. "At the next competition it will still be about who is the strongest at that point and who believes in themselves."

"The Olympic Games will be a great competition and I hope the strongest girl in the world wins," Chernova said. There's not much doubt in her mind about who that is, though perhaps there is a little more now than there was this time last week. "Hopefully winning is a habit," Minichiello said. "And maybe Jess is back in the habit."